Notoriously Yours

Combining narrative tropes beloved of Hitchcock with 21^st century technological angst, Notoriously Yours tells the story of an ordinary suburbanite (Claire Glenn) who has a one night stand with a wanted hacker (Matt Crook), then finds herself arrested without charge, interrogated and blackmailed by ASIO into being part of an undercover operation. Sexual tension develops between the rookie spook and her handler, played by Brad Williams.

Glenn brilliantly conveys her character’s sense of disorientation at being forced into this brave new world, but struggles to create a convincing chemistry with Williams. This has little to do with their acting, and is mostly due to the script rushing through the development of their relationship, in a hurry to get to the next juicy plot twist. Williams’ slyly arch delivery hints at doubts lurking beneath the surface of his outwardly officious spook, but these remain largely unexplored.

Crook and Craig Behanna (who doubles as Security Chief and Criminal Mastermind) are similarly limited by a script which forces them to play out stereotypes rather than fully developed characters, but they invest their roles with a compelling intensity regardless.

Notoriously Yours is only one hour long and most of the production’s problems stem from this fact. The script brings up some thought-provoking ethical dilemmas, and Badham has concocted an intriguingly twisted espionage plot. But too many pivotal moments of character development are rushed through or glossed over. The show really needed to be two hours long in order to develop the relationships between the various characters at a more natural pace and explore various topical themes in depth. So often it feels like Badham is struggling to cram too much into too short a time frame.

Ultimately, Notoriously Yours is an exercise in style over substance. Just as well that it has style to burn, making some startlingly inventive use of sound and video projection (conceived by Crook, Behanna and Williams with Tristan Louth-Robbins).  Badham blocks the action creatively, generating suspense with cool, finely calculated precision.

Flaws and all, Notoriously Yours remains a very entertaining potboiler, that enthrals in the same way that a really well written airport novel does.  It’s hard to shake the feeling of unfulfilled potential, that it could’ve been a much richer theatrical experience if the creative team had only invested more time into it. But it remains an engaging thriller, and if you don’t go in expecting anything too deep, then you’ll probably have a lot of fun with this darkly twisted tale.

Benjamin Orchard

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